Cortlandt Preparing to Vie for Downtown State Grant
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The Town of Cortlandt is hoping to join two of its neighboring municipalities in cashing in on millions of dollars being offered in a grant from the state to rejuvenate downtown areas.
Cortlandt officials are preparing to submit an application later this year to be considered for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI), a state-funded grant that provides communities with between $10 and $20 million. Cortlandt is focusing its application on the hamlet centers of Montrose and Verplanck.
Peekskill was awarded $10 million from the DRI in 2019, while the Village of Ossining was a recipient of the same amount in 2021.
The DRI is a cornerstone of the state’s economic development program. Now in its fifth year, the DRI will invest $200 million in up to 20 downtowns statewide. The state’s 10 Regional Economic Development Councils (REDCs) select a winner based on the potential of the community’s downtown for transformation. Within each region, the REDC will nominate either two downtowns to receive $10 million each or one downtown to receive an award of $20 million to develop a downtown strategic investment plan and implement key projects that advance the community’s vision for revitalization.
The Cortlandt Town Board has established a DRI committee comprised of residents, business owners, Town Board members and town staff. In addition, the Town Board has retained KG&D Architects to provide professional planning and architecture services in support of the application.
The DRI Committee includes Supervisor Dr. Richard Becker, Councilman Frank Farrell, town Economic Development Consultant George Oros, Director of Planning Chris Kehoe, Assistant to the Director of Planning Rosemary Boyle-Lasher, Assistant Planner Michelle Robbins and eight residents, Jill Davis, Adam MacNeil, Sabrina Pereira, Basil Kazepis, Tricia Delamater, Warren Smith, Dominick Saladino and Suzanne Grossberg.
Town officials are also looking for input from the community-at-large through a survey that will be part of the DRI application. The survey can be accessed at www.townofcortlandt.com/DRI. Deadline to complete the survey is September 15.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
